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August 2025 Bay Area Radio PPM Ratings

HenryOchs

HenryOchs

Here are the August 2025 San Francisco Radio PPM Ratings:

radioinsight.com

San Francisco

Nielsen Audio PPM Monthly Ratings San Francisco (Market #6) Population: 6,600,600 Black: 430,500 – Hispanic: 1,605,200 Average Quarter Hour Share for Persons 6+, Mon-Sun 6AM-Mid All ratings are Copyright © 2005-2024 The Nielsen Company. All rights reserved. Nielsen radio audience estimates and...
radioinsight.com radioinsight.com

And the August 2025 San Jose Radio PPM Ratings:

radioinsight.com

San Jose

Nielsen Audio PPM Monthly Ratings San Jose (Market #39) Population: 1,648,900 Black: 47,200 – Hispanic: 403,500 Average Quarter Hour Share for Persons 6+, Mon-Sun 6AM-Mid All ratings are Copyright © 2005-2024 The Nielsen Company. All rights reserved. Nielsen radio audience estimates and data are...
radioinsight.com radioinsight.com

Any thoughts or observations?
 
It looks like a San Francisco PPM panelist who likes Classical music took a trip to LA, giving the Classical California network an extra .01 from KUSC.
 
How does everyone feel KEXP's foray into the San Francisco market is playing out? I know the 6+ means nothing but are they making inroads?
 
How does anyone feel about KYLD's latest PPM numbers?
 
b-turner said:
How does everyone feel KEXP's foray into the San Francisco market is playing out? I know the 6+ means nothing but are they making inroads?
Click to expand...
With a 0.2? I doubt it. IMO, the people in the demographics that like the kinds of music that KEXP plays, for the most part, are not listening to it on KEXC. A big part of that may be the strength – or lack thereof – of the 92.7 signal. It's a Class A and pumps out 6Kw, but only from a 100 meter height, so their city-grade signal only makes it to around San Rafael, San Mateo or the Berkeley hills, roughly a 20 mile radius. They've done an admirable job of juicing the signal as much as they can, but you can only get so much juice out of a stone. If there is listenership that's not reflected in that 0.2, it's either via streaming or Gen Z's that wouldn't be caught dead carrying a PPM.

Up in Seattle, KEXP has a Class C3, and while they actually pump out less power – 4.7Kw – they do it from a height of 211 meters. That gets their city-grade throughout King County and as far away as Everett and Bremerton. Their August book hasn't yet been released as I write this, but the prior six monthlies have shown 6+ numbers between 3.0 and 4.4. So between the superior signal and their heritage in Puget Sound, they're getting listeners (or at least PPM panelists) that KEXC can only dream of.
 
That's my thinking as well. I would think perhaps a 1 would be acceptable by this point, at the worst. These formats take some 'play' to work and that 'play' seems to be localizing, something KEXC can't do. I know it took a year or more for similar stations to hit 1.0 and most never get past a 1.5 or so.
 
That's 0.1% in a larger market though. Still, nothing like they get in Seattle. But remember - PPM numbers are wildly inaccurate when it gets down in the weeds like this. But if you believe the cume numbers, 46,000 listeners. Let's say 10% of them become members and the average contribution is $100.00 per year. That's roughly $40,000.00 per month. Should be enough to make it worthwhile.

Also, for some reason I thought (from an earlier thread) they were broadcasting from Sutro at 790 watts.

Paging @JamieA

Dave B.
 
KBRG the Amor Spanish AC format has been doing great so far, the playlist often gets refreshed with more Spanish currents. Would be great they would do the same with the older Spanish songs and add more artists. But I have noticed some changes over the last few weeks with the library adding RBD as an example. Which contributes to the increase of ratings. Never heard this in a long time, going back when KVVF/KVVZ was La Kalle.

Much of the songs heard on KLVE in LA are pretty much the same these days.

I don't know about KVVF/KVVZ Latino Mix, perhaps should go back to the Spanish Adults Hits format when KBRG was Recuerdo. It did well previously in multiple books.
 
A lousy baseball season for the Giants isn't helping KNBR at all. They actually dropped half a share this time around. The 49ers should hopefully turn that around.

Too bad the Savannah Bananas didn't play in the Bay Area this year, to bring back some excitement and fun to baseball fans there. I had the chance to see them perform, ahem...play that is, last weekend at Petco Park. Great Stuff!
 
HenryOchs said:
How does anyone feel about KYLD's latest PPM numbers?
Click to expand...
KEXC was obviously expected to be a long-term project. Even KEXP took a long time to establish itself, and they had a massive amount of money.

The 92.7 signal is obviously very limited. It does not even come close to covering the entire market, so the frequency has never really been a factor there, except for the immediate area around San Francisco and Oakland.

As I understand it, the plan was to start with a simulcast of the Seattle programming, with a few local shows on the weekend. Then, more local Bay Area programming would eventually be added. It's a race, not a marathon. And, as one poster pointed out, if they can get member donations out of the Bay Area, it's a win-win. But not even they expect to ever be a top 10 ratings powerhouse.
 
Anyone ever looked at the demos for Wild 94-9? It seems to be doing OK in the overall PPM Ratings!
 
DaveBayArea said:
Also, for some reason I thought (from an earlier thread) they were broadcasting from Sutro at 790 watts.
Click to expand...
They are, and were doing so even before the simulcast started.

I was in San Francisco this weekend, but at a location where listening can be challenging.
Fighting Irish said:
KEXC was obviously expected to be a long-term project. Even KEXP took a long time to establish itself, and they had a massive amount of money.

The 92.7 signal is obviously very limited. It does not even come close to covering the entire market, so the frequency has never really been a factor there, except for the immediate area around San Francisco and Oakland.

As I understand it, the plan was to start with a simulcast of the Seattle programming, with a few local shows on the weekend. Then, more local Bay Area programming would eventually be added. It's a race, not a marathon. And, as one poster pointed out, if they can get member donations out of the Bay Area, it's a win-win. But not even they expect to ever be a top 10 ratings powerhouse.
Click to expand...
This nails it, though I think you got the metaphor backwards: it's a marathon, not a race. KEXC isn't going after raw numbers. They can't. Moreover, that's not part of their model. I would think of it more as a promotional tool than anything else. Ratings are for selling advertising; KEXP/KEXC is selling a communal experience.
 
DaveBayArea said:
That's 0.1% in a larger market though. Still, nothing like they get in Seattle. But remember - PPM numbers are wildly inaccurate when it gets down in the weeds like this.
Click to expand...
Yeah, the 0.1 could be a 0.2 or a 0.3. That is still a very tiny audience.
DaveBayArea said:
But if you believe the cume numbers, 46,000 listeners. Let's say 10% of them become members and the average contribution is $100.00 per year. That's roughly $40,000.00 per month. Should be enough to make it worthwhile.
Click to expand...
Enough for what? To cover a few basic expenses?
DaveBayArea said:
Also, for some reason I thought (from an earlier thread) they were broadcasting from Sutro at 790 watts.
Click to expand...
And, of that $40,000 a month, how much do you think goes just for being on Sutro? I'm betting, based on having worked with a commercial station on Sutro, that the rent is into the five-figure monthly range. Just look at what a NYC FM pays to be on the ESB where antenna rental is in the hundreds of thousands per year.
 
davideduardo said:
Yeah, the 0.1 could be a 0.2 or a 0.3. That is still a very tiny audience.

Enough for what? To cover a few basic expenses?

And, of that $40,000 a month, how much do you think goes just for being on Sutro? I'm betting, based on having worked with a commercial station on Sutro, that the rent is into the five-figure monthly range. Just look at what a NYC FM pays to be on the ESB where antenna rental is in the hundreds of thousands per year.
Click to expand...

Well, it's not like they're hurting for startup money. They obviously aren't expecting immediate success. It'll take awhile.
 
It’s really funny to watch the professionals who decry the decline of radio react when someone tries a different model from advertising-supported commercial radio. Supposedly Harry Truman once said an expert is afraid to learn anything new because then they wouldn’t be an expert any more. Likewise, it’s clear that what worked 30, 40, 50 years ago isn’t working so well now. So, when someone makes a serious, well-thought-out effort to do something different yet still workable within the confines of one-to-many broadcasting, I think the reaction shouldn’t be one of picking nits.

I worked for a couple of years at Sears headquarters near Chicago in the late 1990s. Great people, badly led by executives stuck in old ways of thinking. I see a lot of that mindset on RadioDiscussions, too. Fighting that mindset doesn’t mean accepting every idea that someone pitches against the wall, and that doesn’t mean accommodating the routine complaints of listeners overly wrapped up in their own musical tastes. But, sheesh, people, isn’t it obvious that the generation coming up really doesn’t give two hoots about your tightly defined format boundaries, your “show prep”, or your slogans? They can get what they want, when they want it. KEXP is at least trying to figure out how to maneuver in this new environment; has succeeded in Seattle; and is extending its brand to the Bay Area. The measure of their success won’t be found in monthly Nielsen surveys.
 


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